A socks Journey to success
Some 18 months ago, despite the prevailing economic turbulence and morose business climate, Fabian Aubry rose to the challenge of setting up and managing a company. He did this with the help of a small team, reduced structural costs, using his experience and a lot of creativity from a concept which had already proven to work well.
Sold in Belgium in hundreds of shops as well as online, his JOLLYSOX brand of socks offers the quality, choice, comfort and design of the big labels at an affordable price. This Belgian brand hopes to get a foot into the European market soon…
Ready to go !
At 41 years old, the entrepreneur knows where to take the right steps. His experience goes in his favour : he discovered the sock industry back when he was 18 and learnt everything "on the job". His adventure started with a student job which gave him the pocket money he needed: the young man sold a batch of socks in the offices of several companies using an indirect sales system.
This successful formula encouraged him to rapidly set up his own business : in 1990, he founded his first sock brand called Whoop’s with a friend, followed by Hercule. The duo learnt the tricks of the trade the hard way : design choices, purchase and supply management, respect of deadlines, search for reliable partners, etc. After 2 years, his staff was already composed of 30 to 40 salespeople ! The partnership, based on indirect selling and multi-brand shops, will last 7 years.
For the necessary creativity, the brand called upon the services of a fabric designer who had just graduated from the art school of la Cambre in Brussels. And as for the quality ? The best of brushed cotton for the patterned socks and 100% mercerized cotton produced by yarn suppliers and factories in Italia, according to the Jollysox quality directives and standards. "I changed their way of working to get a much softer yarn", the entrepreneur explained, also demanding reinforced toes and heels and yarn which is resistant to repeated washing…
The founder of Jollysox takes great care of the brand image and communication. The graphic designer Thierry De Prince, close and talented collaborator from the beginning, created all the exclusive packaging.
With the desire to get his products known quickly and well, Fabian Aubry is focusing on the e-shop and social media. This season we invited singer Baloji to present our Collection photos taken by the Photographer Julien Thonar accompanied by Vanden Eynde Eleonore, artistic director.
